The Avatar of the Fire Temple
by Jet556
Summary: Based off of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Abandoned as a baby and raised in the Fire Temple, the avatar Aang lives as an outcast. The arrival of the beautiful Gypsy girl Katara begins a tragic series of events marked by jealousy, betrayal, and murder.
1. Haru's Play

In the great hall of the Fire Nation Palace in the Capital, crowds had gathered to watch a play. Although the important guests were not there yet, the crowd was restless.

Spectators bustled for space in the packed hall. A small group had even knocked out a window and sat high above, overlooking the stage. They shouted for the play to start. Leading them was Zhao. Zhao was currently not happy. The play had not started. This made him even more angry. Sitting there like a vulture he watched the crowd and the stage. He was dressed in a commander's uniform. It should be noted that he had been thrown out of the navy for having a temper that were bigger than his side-burns. It was his temper that had cost him his job when he accidentally attacked a commanding officer. Zhao was now a man who constantly went to his foster-brother for money. It's not that he was terrible at making money. It is just that he had tended to spend his money all in one place. "Begin at once!", demanded Zhao. This demand would be met soon.

The actor's were frightened of the mob. Although the ambassadors and royal guests hadn't arrived, the play began.

However, the performance was soon interrupted. An young man in out-dated armour with a top-knot and shaven head with a scar on the left side of his face climbed onto the stage and shouted over the actors, begging for money. "Charity, I beg you!", called the young man.

The boy who wrote the play, Haru, was angry at the interruption. This was his chance for fame and fortune.

At that moments, the guests of honor arrived. They were there to celebrate the the marriage of the King's son to Toph of Gaoling. But they were late.

The crowd was now noisy and unruly and had forgotten all about the play, Haru, and the young beggar, Zuko.


	2. The Monk of Fools

As the play could not continue, one of the ambassadors suggested that the crowd instead had fun electing a "Monk of Fools", the person who could make the ugliest face.

A small window was knocked out of the chapel opposite the Fire Nation Palace. This was where the contestants would appear.

Some of the crowd gathered in the chapel, waiting unseen until it's their turn to display their ugliest faces. The contest began right away.

One after another, the citizens of the Fire Nations made hideous faces through the window frame.

The crowd went wild with excitement and laughter, as each person tried to outdo the last, until...... the crowd gasped. A face more repulsive than any other they had seen stares out from the chapel window.

The hairless skull, the blue arrows on the head, the mob clearly had a winner. Someone recognized the face as that of Aang, the Avatar of the Fire Temple.

The people called for Aang to come out and recieve his "prize." They clapped and cheered until the avatar appeared.

A young water tribe man, named Sokka, emerges from the crowd and pointed at Aang's face. He teased the poor wretch, laughing at how he looked different. "Are you a goblin?". he teased

However, Sokka got more than her bargained for. With great power, Aang struck him im the chest with airbending and sent him flying backwards, limbs flailing.

The crowd laughed and applauded the spectacle. They then dressed Aang in a robe like the monk and crowned him with a strange hat.

Aang was not used to so much more attention. He smiled happily as several strong men placed him on a throne and carried him aloft for all the capital to see.

Haru watched in dismay. He could not understand why the people would rather watch Aang than his masterpiece. What an ignorant mob!


	3. Katara

With the procession out of sight, Haru walked the streets feeling sorry for himself. His chance of fame was over, his hopes of riches gone.

Suddenly he heared cries of "Katara! Katara!" from the nearby place of grieving. He ran around the corner and saw a Gypsy Girl dancing.

Her face was lit by the bonfire that blazed in the square. Her hair was as dark as hog monkey fur. Her eyes, blue as the sea.

A crowd looked on in silence, enchanted by the sight of the beutiful young girl dancing before them. She was known as Katara.

Haru was enchanted, too. He forgot all about his failed play and watched her as well. He thought he was in love.

Katara was not dancing alone. She was accompanied by a white cat, which seemed to understand her commands and performed tricks.  
"Come Miyuki, dance!", commanded Katara.

The crowd clapped and threw money to the girl and her amazing pet cat. She then began to sing.

Katara's beautiful voice rang out clearly, until she was interrupted by the shouts of an old woman from the nearby Tower of Iroh.

"Will you be quiet, you cricket!" demanded the woman.

The crowd was angry and hurled abuse at the elderly woman, whose name was Yue, telling her to put an end to her evil curses.

Just then, the "Monk of Fools" procession bursted onto the square, carrying Aang. All the thieves, ruffians, and beggars of the city had joined them.

At that moment, a hand reached out and pulled the avatar from his seat, tearing off his cloak. It was the fire lord of the Fire Temple, Ozai! The crowd looked on in terror, would the great powers crush the man of Agni?

But oddly it was Aang who looked afraid.

The two did not speak to each other. Instead they communicated using a sort of sign language, making shapes with their hands that no one else could understand.

Much to the crowd's surprise and disapointment, the fire lord leads Aang away in the direction of the temple.


	4. Aang's Upbringing

Twelve years before... morning mass had just finished in the Fire Temple. People were filing out of the great doors ready to go home.

Inside, four old ladies were gathered around the foundlings' bed. This was where unwanted babies were left by mothers who could not care for them.

Inside the crib was a strange baby, crying out loudly. It had no hair and its face was pale white. None of the women wanted to care for the poor child.

However, a young sage called Ozai approached. He felt sorry for the unusual child and decided to bring him up as if he were his own.

Wrapping the baby in the folds of his gown, he carried him away. He named the little one Aang, meaning "almost."

As the boy grew older, Ozai looked after him as a father, showing him the cloisters, chapels and corridors of the huge temple where he lived.

In time, young Aang learned the secrets of the Fire Temple better than anyone. He rarely left the confines of its warm metal walls.

When the boy avatar did venture outside, it was never a happy experience. Children threw stones and chased him with polar dogs.

Each time the sage and his adopted son left the temple together, people whispered and pointed at the odd pair.

Due to his harsh treatment, Aang learned to have respect for only one man, his savior, father and only friend, Ozai.

When Aang was older, Ozai gave his son a job. He had to climb the many stairs to the top of the Fire Temples' bell tower...... and ring the great temple bells.

There was nothing the avatar loved more dearly than making the bells swing with all his strength and feeling them shudder as they made their wonderful sound.

But you may ask, how could he stand the crashing and booming of the bells so high in the tower? Well, dear reader, it is because over the years, that very noise had nade him deaf.


	5. Kidnap and Rescue

Back in the present day... the crowds from the Fool's parade had gone home to bed. It was a cold night and Katara was making her way home with Miyuki.

She was being followed by Haru. He was curious to see where she lived. Hearing a noise behind her, Katara peered back into the darkness.

All she could see were shadows in the dim streets. She turned quickly into a side road.

Suddenly, Haru heard a scream from the alley into which she had stepped. He ran after her, no longer worried about being seen.

"Help! Help me!" called Katara.  
Haru saw two people struggling with Katara. One was the avatar who lived in the fire temple. The other wore a hooded cloak. What was this?

Before Haru could do anything, Aang stepped forward and used waterbending to strike at Haru. The blow sent Haru flying.

Haru saw the avatar pick up the Gypsy girl as though she weighed nothing and set off down the alleyway with her.  
"Murder! Murder!" screamed Haru.  
"Help me!", called Katara to anyone who could help her if anyone could.

But Aang did not get far. Blocking his path was a soldier on a bison. Confused, the avatar halted and the soldier seized the girl from him.

Aang rushed forward, trying to grab the girl from the mounted soldier, but was immediately surrounded by more heavily armed soldiers.

Aang was seized and, although he struggled violently, the soldiers overpowered him and he was soon bound tightly by rope.

The Gypsy and the soldier stared deeply into each other's eyes. The man introduced himself as Captain Jet.

Katara blushed and thanked the captain, before sliding from the saddle and disappeared into the night.


	6. The Kingdom of Vagabonds and Beggars

Haru's day was going from bad to worse. He lied bruised and freezing in a stinking gutter.

Dragging himself to his feet, he saw a light a short distance away. He hoped he would find food and warmth there.

As he approached, he found the path littered with beggars, vagrants and cripples begging for money. He tried to ignore them and continued to where the light was coming from... but it seemed they had other ideas.

As he pushed past, they started to chase after him, throwing aside their crutches and sticks! Haru was herded into a large hall filled with beggars and cripples where a large fire blazed, the infamous Court of Miracles.

Haru found himself in front of a man seated on a barrel. It was none other than the beggar who interrupted his play, Zuko! All around the hall, the city's lowlifes are drinking, dancing, and making merry.  
"Welcome to my court.", welcomed Zuko.

Here the young man was not a beggar, but a king, the King of Vagabonds and Beggars. Zuko told Haru that he must pay a fine for entering his kingdom unimvited, or be hanged!  
"What is it to be?", asked Zuko.

When Haru says that he doesn't have a single coin upon him, Zuko told him that there was only one way to save his life, to join their gang... but first he had to pass a test.  
"You must prove yourself.", instructed Zuko.

They hung up a gown covered in bells. Haru had to climb a stool, reach into the pocket, and take a purse from it without making the bells sound.  
"Can you pick a pocket?", asked Zuko.

He failed miserably. The crowd went wild with excitment, and poor Haru was pale with fear as the "executioner" fixed a noose around his neck.

However, King Zuko offered him a final chance to be saved. It was a vagabond and beggar custom, he said, that a man could be spared from hanging if someone in the room agreed to marry him.  
"Wed a wench, or it's the rope for you!", declared Zuko.

"Things did not look good for Haru until, at the last minute, the crowd parted and Katara stepped forward. She was willing to be wed to the condemned man, he was saved!  
"I'll take him.", stated Katara.


	7. Aang at the Pillory

The next day, at the place of grieving, a huge crowd had gathered. Word had it it that a public flogging would take place, and there were few things the bloodthirsty people of the Fire Nation enjoyed more.

A cart rumbled into the square. On it, bound tightly with ropes and chains, was poor Aang. He did not struggle as he was led toward the central pillory.

Nor did he make a sound when soldiers stripped him to the waist and fastened him securely to the wheel in front of the crowd.

A man stepped up to the platform carrying a long whip of knotted leather. He rolled up his sleeves and flexed his muscles.

An hourglass filled with sand was turned over, indicating that the performance would begin.

The wheel began to turn, but the avatar did not yet understand. As the first lash cut into his back, Aang's eyes opened with pain.

The flogging got harder and harder until blood poured down the avatar's sides. The crowd howled and laughed, taunting Aang. Stones and rotting food were thrown at him, too.

Aang struggled with his bonds but could not escape. The mob cheered to see him struggle and fail. Though he could not hear them, Aang saw the hate on their faces.

Suddenly he stopped struggling. Something had caught his eyes, and he stared across the heads of the jeering crowd.

It was Ozai, his adoptive father and master! He must have come to put an end to his son's terrible suffering. Aang was relieved to see him.

But, after looking on for a few moments, the fire lord walked on. Turning his back on Aang, he abandoned him to the crowd.

The light of hope in Aang's eyes disappeared. He cried out in pain, and begged the crowd for a drink of water.  
"Water! Please! Water!", begged Aang.

Katara stepped forward and held a flask to the avatar's mouth. The crowd went silent. In gratitude, he tried to kiss the Gypsy's hand. But the girl pulled away, frightened.

Suddenly, from the barred window of a cell nearby, a terrible screech was heard. Curses aimed at the Gypsy pierced the silence.  
"Curses on you, daughter of the face stealer!"


	8. The Tragic Tale of Yue

The voice from the cell in the Tower of Iroh belonged to Yue. She had once been an attractive young girl.

After her parents died, Yue had given birth to a beautiful babay daughter. She christened the child Ursa, meaning "bear."

Yue doted on her baby, the only love in her life, and dressed her up as finely as a princess, even though she herself was poor.

She had even made little Ursa a pair of red boots from the finest silk. Yue loved to kiss the child's tiny feet and toes.

But her happiness would soon end. When the child was about one year old, a group of travelling Gypsies came to the town where Yue and Ursa lived.

They were petty thieves and fortune tellers who used tricks to make a living in the area. Soon all the local people came to fear and avoid them.

One day, Yue briefly left the house to see a friend. When she returned, little Ursa's cot was empty. Her child was missing, Ursa had been stolen!

The only sign left of Ursa was a single red boot. Yue was terrified. Who could take a defenseless baby from its mother?

Yue ran in panic through the streets, crying out for her poor child.

When she finally returned home, neighbors told her they had seen Gypsies creeping into her house with a bundle of rags. Hearing a child crying inside, Yue was overjoyed.

But when she burst in, she got a nasty surprise. Instead of her beautiful Ursa, the baby in the cot looked more like a hog-monkey than a human.

Yue rushed to where the Gypsies were camped outside the town, but found only the embers of a fire and some of Ursa's torn clothes. They had gone!

The distraught mother thought that the Gypsies had eaten her baby! She cried for months, clutching all that remaind of her lost daughter, her tiny red boot.

Eventually, unable to continue with life, Yue locked herself in the Elephant Rat Hole, by the Place of Grieving, vowing never to come out again!

You, reader, now know what became of the deformed child. He was taken to the Fire Temple and adopted by a fire sage.


	9. A Jealous Rage

It was several weeks since the truand "marriage" of Haru and Katara. Opposite the Fire Temple, on the balcony of a mansion, stood Captain Jet and his fiancee, Mai.

The captain was bored with Mai and her friends. Looking over the balcony, he saw Katara dancing below. What a sight!

He was not the only one watching her. From the walls of the Fire Temple, Ozai was staring at Katara with a strange look in his eyes.

Mai saw the girl too. She called for Katara to come to their rooms to perform for them.  
"Little one! Come gither.", called Mai.

When Katara climbed the stairs and entered, Jet was struck once again by her enchanting beauty. He could hardly take his eyes from her.

Katara could see the desire in the captain's eyes. Believe it or not, dear reader, she fell in love with him at first sight. But she was ashamed to show her feelings in front of Jet's fiancee.

Katara turned and ran from the room. Mai was angry as she watched her fiance follow the beautiful Gypsy girl out into the street below.

When Jet caught up with Katara, he whispered that he would like to meet her later that evening. She agreed.  
"I must see you later!", whispered Jet.

Later that evening, Captain Jet waited for Katara as agreed. However, he was not alone, a sinister hooded figure watched from the shadows.

When the figure saw that the couple was about to go inside, he sneaked into the building ahead of them. He hid himself carefully in a cupboard and waited for them to enter. He would wait for them in there.

Jet lead Katara inside. They were about to kiss, when suddenly the cupboard burst open. It was Fire Lord Ozai, holding a knife.

He plunged the blade into the captain's back. Jet cried out in surprise and pain. Katara screamed.

The couple collapsed to the floor. Jet was unconscious, and the Gypsy girl had fainted. Suddenly, Ozai heard footsteps approaching, attracted by the screams and sounds of a struggle.

Seeing no other way to escape, Ozai quickly lept from the window into the cold waters of the River Kya below.


	10. The Trial of Katara

Katara woke up as she heard the sound of boots thundering up the stairs. But she was trapped beneath Jet's body.

Soldiers stormed into the room. What did they see? Their captain, with a bloody knife sticking out of his back and there with him, the Gypsy girl. What had happened here?

Katara was arrested, accused of being a murderer and a witch. Even Miyuki the cat did not escape, they said she was a demon in disguise.

At the Fire Nation Palace, the court of judges came together for Katara's trial. She shaked with fear as the old men in the council of judges stared down at her.

A witness said that she saw Katara enter the building with Captain Jet, who looked as though he were under a spell.

The old woman then heard a scream from the bedroom, but when she entered, all she saw was a red-robed figure fly out of the window. The cat must have transformed into a phantom fire sage!

The judges talked together before casting their verdict: guilty of witchcraft and murder! This meant she would be sent to the gallows! They turned to Katara. Would she admit her guilt, or die showing no regret?

Katara denied the charges, she was innocent! But this angered the judges! She was taken down to the dungeon to be tortured.  
"I deny everything!", was Katara's statement.

As the torturer fit a buskin to her leg, he asked her once more to admit she was a witch! Bravely, innocent Katara refused.  
"No, I am innocent.", refused Katara.

As the screws were turned, the contraption cruelly spueezed the girl's leg. The pain was worse than she ever imagined. She screamed in pain and terror.  
"I confess! Have mercy!", screamed Katara.

Having confessed her guilt, Katara was thrown into a cold, damp cell to await her terrible fate. She was to be hung from the gallows at the place of grieving.

While there, she had an unexpected and unwelcome visitor, the wicked fire lord. He taunted her through the bars of her cell, describing how he stabbed Jet, and telling her that the handsome captain was dead.  
"The blade entered deep.", taunted Ozai.  
"Leave me, you monster!", sobbed Katara.


	11. Sanctuary!

But Captain Jet was not dead. He had recovered from his wound and was going about his business as usual.

Several days later, Jet visited his fiancee once again. She wanted to know where he had been, so he told her that he was injured in the line of duty.  
"Where have you been?", asked Mai.  
"I was merely wounded, a mere scratch.", replied Jet.

Below her apartment, huge crowds had gathered to witness the execution of Katara, the Gypsy girl to be hung as a witch.

From the corner of the square, a ostrich-horse-drawn cart appeared. In the cart were Katara and her pet cat, Miyuki. A noose was already knotted around the poor girl's neck.

Tears ran down Katara's face. She was crying not just for herself ans Miyuki, but because she believed her beloved Jet was dead. Could anything save her?

She got down from the cart in front of the huge doors of the Fire Temple. A procession of fire sages slowly descended the steps, led by Fire Lord Ozai.  
"She will be confessed.", announced Ozai.

Everybody thought he had come to bless the prisoner. But when he got close, he whispered that her life could be saved if she promised to love him.  
"Be mine and I will help you!", whispered Ozai.

Katara despised him more than anyone in the world and refused his offer. Laughing, he withdrew into the fire temple.  
"Be gone, Koh!", refused Katara.

No one had noticed, but high above, the avatar had been watching from the fire temple walls. He could not watch the beautiful Gypsy girl perish.

As she was led to be hung, the crowd heard a mighty roar from the skies above.  
"Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"

The crowd pointed and stared as Aang swung down from the masonry on a rope. He used earthbending to push away the guards who were holding Katara as though they were made of paper. The crowd was astonished.

Aang scooped up the terrified girl and hurried into the fire temple. He knew that she would be protected within the walls of this house of Agni. She had sanctuary and was safe... for now.


	12. A Friendship Grew

Ozai was unaware of the dramatic rescue. He laughed to himself, thinking Katara dead. She was dead. His curse was gone!

Later that night, he was walking through the galleries of the Fire Temple. But what was this? The ghost of Katara had come to haunt him! Terrified, the fire lord fled.  
"My lord! It cannot be! What spirit haunts me?", asked Ozai to himself.

But, of course, Katara was not a ghost. Aang had found her a small room, safely hidden away high up in the fire temple.  
"Eat. Sleep.", said Aang.

The avatar tried to comfort her, bringing blankets to keep her warm and food and drink so that she would not go hungry. However, she was still scared of him.

No matter what he did for her, she was still too frightened to look at him. Her terrible fear made him feel sad and lonely.

Poor Aang understood that he was ugly and that the Gypsy girl could never love him. He promised to stay out of her way as much as possible.  
"I know that I frighten you. The screaming bird cannot rest near the lark.", said Aang.

He gave Katara a special whistle. Though he was unable to hear people's voices, he could hear the high-pitched noise of the whistle.  
"When you need me to come, use this.", instructed Aang.

Later that night, while Katara slept, a figure approached in the darkness. It was Fire Lord Ozai. He had come in to take Katara away.

When she woke and saw Ozai's cruel face above her, Katara gasped in terror. He tried to grab her, but she struggled free.  
"Now you will be mine!", stated Ozai.

She managed to put the whistle to her lips. Aang heard its sound, even on the other side of the cathedral.

Aang burst into the room and pulled the attacker away by the throat. He was about to snap the wretch's neck in two, when he saw whose face he was holding.

Aang's anger turned to confusion. He could not bring himself to kill the man who had been a father to him. The evil fire sage scurried away like a beetle as soon as he was released. No one would have her then!


	13. The Fire Temple Under Attack

Ozai needed to find a way past Katara's guardian. He arranged to meet Haru, her husband.  
"I have a plan.", he told Haru.

The fire lord told Haru that the authorities were planning to arrest Katara whether she was inside the fire temple or not.  
"She saved your life. Now you must save hers.", said Ozai.

There wasn't much time, so Haru organized the community of truands. Their plan was to storm the fire temple and rescue Katara themselves, stealing the temple's gold and treasures as well. They thought of the gold!

The ragged band approached the fire temple. The men were armed with whatever they could lay their hands on, bars, mallets, and pitchforks.

Zuko, dressed in his best armor, led the beggar army. At his signal, they charged forward and attacked the Fire Temple.  
"Follow me! Sack the Fire Temple!", ordered Zuko.

A small group rushed at the doors with their weapons and set about trying to break in, hammering on the wood. However, they didn't get far.

A huge wooden beam crashed down from above, crushing several men. Screams of pain came from the injured. Where did the beam come from? The heavens?

However, Zuko was not deterred. He organized several more men and they picked up the heavy beam to use as a battering ram. They charged at the doors.  
"To the doors, comrades!", ordered Zuko.

But they had not counted on the determination of Aang. From high above, he hurled pieces of masonry at the attackers.

Men shouted and fled as the boulders showered down upon them, killing and maiming many. But soon the avatar ran out of stones to throw at them.

Aang still had one more trick up his sleeve though. Over a fire, he melted metal sheets from the fire temple roof. He then poured the scalding molten metal onto the invaders.

Realizing they could not enter the fire temple while the avatar was guarding the doorway, the beggar's army changed its tactics.

They scaled ladders to get closer to Aang. Zhao fired a crossbow, aiming for the hunchback's eyes, but the arrow missed its targets.  
"Henceforth they'll call you the blind one.", said the greedy Zhao.

Aang did not even flinch as he snapped off the arrow's shaft. Now his attackers really began to worry, there were no more arrows left.

With a mighty airbending move, Aang toppled the ladders, sending the men to their deaths on the hard pavement of the square below.


	14. A Noble Choice

But while Aang had been distracted, the truands had broken through the fire temple doors. They were about to enter, when they heard the sound of approaching hooves.

Captain Jet and the city's soldiers had come to put an end to the raid on the Fire Temple. They galloped into the square, brandishing their swords and spears.

The ill-equipped truands were no match for armed soldiers on bisonback. They fought bravely, but were deafeated. Even "King" Zuko was killed by fire.

Amid the confusion, one person entered the fire temple, it was Haru. He had another plan to rescue Katara. Here was his chance.

Katara was pleased to see Haru, but was suspicious of the mysterious cloaked figure with him.  
"Have no fear. It is I, Haru.", said Haru.  
"But who is your companion?", asked Katara.

Haru reassured her that they had both come to take her to safety.  
"Do not worry, it is a friend.", reassured Haru.

The three fugitives fled through a secret door at the back of the fire temple. There was a small boat waiting for them on the river.

Once aboard, the hooded companion rowed silently across the dark waters of the River Kya. They had escaped! Or had they?

On the far bank, they looked back at the cathedral, dark agaisnt the night sky. Suddenly they heard soldiers. Frightened, Haru dashed away without a word.

The stranger pulled back his hood, it was Fire Lord Ozai! Katara let out a gasp. They were alone in the Place of Grieving.  
"I knew it was you again.", gasped Katara.

Before Katara could flee, he begged her to run away with him. He said he had always lover her, that she had enchanted him.  
"I love you! It is true, I do!", said Ozai.

He tried to kiss her, but she could think of nothing worse than kissing that evil man who killed her beloved Jet. She struggled desperately to push him away.  
"It is Jet whom I love, murderer!", exclaimed Katara.

Suddenly a pair of hands shot out through the bars of a window behind them, seizing Katara. It was Yue, the old woman who hated all Gypsies.  
"I have you now!", exclaimed Yue.

Yue gripped Katara tightly. Fire Lord Ozai told her to hold the girl while he fetched soldiers to arrest her. If he couldnot have her, no one would.  
"Don't let her go.", ordered Ozai.


	15. Mother and Daughter

Yue let out a terrible laugh and gleefully told Katara that she would soon be dead. She would finally have her revenge on Gypsies for killing her little Ursa.  
"You are going to be hanged!", told Yue.

Katara was terrified. She did not know why the old hag hated her so much. She pleaded for Yue to free her.  
"What have I done to you?", asked Katara.

In a whisper, Yue told Katara all about her daughter who was taken by Gypsies, and how her own life was filled with sadness.  
"My pretty child, my Ursa!", whispered Yue.

Katara begged for mercy. She told Yue that she too had suffered. She lost her parents when she was so young that she couldnot even remember them.  
"In Heaven's name, let me go!", begged Katara.

Yue pulled out the only thing she had that belonged to her little Ursa. It was one of the pretty red boots that her daughter wore.  
"Show me that shoe!", requested Katara.

Trembling, Katara pulled out a matching red boot tied around her own neck. Yue's eyes opened wide in surprise. Could it be true?

Recognition dawned on both their faces. Katara was the child Yue thought lost forever, and Yue was the mother whom Katara could not recall. They embraced, with tears of joy running down their faces.  
"Mother!", cried Katara with joy.  
"My daughter!", said Yue happily.

At that moment, soldiers burst into the square. The roughly seized the Gypsy girl and tor her from the arms of her newfound mother.  
"No!", screamed Katara and Yue in unison.

Mother and daughter were both crying. The soldiers dragged Yue out of her cell, but she clung frantically to Katara with a vicelike grip.  
"Don't take my daughter from me like this!", cried Yue.

The scene was before them was so touching it melted the soldiers' hearts. They let mother and daughter share one final embrace, but they had orders to carry out.  
"I cannot lose you again!", said Yue.

Tearing mother and daughter apart, the soldiers carried Katara off to her terrible fate. Yue watched helplessly.  
"No! No! Don't let me die!", pleaded Katara to the soldiers.

Unable to cope with her grief, the old woman fell to the floor and didn't stir. Yue could not stand to lose her daughter again, and died from a broken heart.


	16. The Death of Katara

In the Fire Temple, Aang could not find Katara. He hurried through the fire temple in a panic, searching for her.

He saw Fire Lord Ozai wandering through the fire temple. He had a triumphant look in his eyes that made Aang suspicious.

The avatar followed him to an upper balcony of the fire temple, where he stared out at the Place of Grieving in the distance.

Aang followed the direction of the fire sage's gaze, and saw a figure in blue being carried up to the gallows.

Aang gasped in horror! He hought he recognized the figure far below.

The noose was tied to the gallows and the ladder was kicked away. As the truth dawned, Aang's heart almost stopped: it was Katara.

As the rope around her neck tightened, Fire Lord Ozai let out a terrible, evil cackle of delight. His curse had gone forever.  
"At last!", cackled Ozai.

In a fury, Aang rushed forward and did what he should have done long before now. He pushed the cruel fire sage over the balcony edge.  
"Damnation!", screamed Ozai in terror.

Ozai hung desperately to one of the stone gargoyles! Below in the square, people heard the noises and looked up.  
"Aang, my son, please help me!", begged Ozai.

But Aang did not even look at the fire lord. He was staring into the square, tears rolling down his face.

Finally, the fire sage fell. He spinned through the air, his robes flapping in the wind. He let out a scream.

As he plummeted to earth, his fall was broken by a rooftop. He struggled to stop himself slipping further but was too weak to hang on.  
"Help me!", called Ozai helplessly.

With a sickening thud he hit the cobbles below. Crowds gathered around the crumpled, broken body: Fire Lord Ozai was dead.


	17. Two Marriages

So, how did this tragic story end? Well, the coward Haru did at least manage to save Miyuki, the cat. He even became a successful writer of tragedies!

Captain Jet, for all his unfaithfulness, got what he well and truly deserved. He married the dull Mai but was never truly happy, as his heart could never forget the beautiful Gypsy girl, Katara.

In his sorrow, Aang disappeared from the Fire Temple, leaving the great bells silent. No one in the Fire Nation Capital knew his whereabouts.

The dead body of poor Katara was taken from the gallows to a tomb at the Cave of Murderers, where others like her were buried! Here she would rest in peace.

But that was not quite the end of the tale. This, after all, was a love story, albeit a sad one. Many years later, two men were searching the great vault beneath the cave.

What they discovered there, among the gloom, cobwebs, and skeletons, would live on forever in legend.

They found two skeletons wrapped in a curious embrace. One was that of a girl clutching an infants boot, the other was strange as it had arrows on it.

When the explorers tried to part the two skeletons, the stranger of the two disintegrated to dust at their touch. They were obviously meant to be together forever.

Well, dear reader, we know that the skeletons were those of Aang and Katara. The avatar was finally able to be with the Gypsy girl he loved so dearly, but only in death.


End file.
